A cloud-based service is an on-demand hosted computer infrastructure or platform, including hosted computing services provided on an infrastructure as a service (IaaS) model, software as a service (SaaS) model, or platform as a service (PaaS) model. Cloud-based services are provided remotely using a network connection, e.g., the Internet.
Cloud-based services have taken on an important role in many businesses. Small and medium sized businesses, for example, are often reliant on cloud-based services for web hosting, transaction processing (e.g., credit card processing), communication (e.g., email services), and data storage. This is because these businesses typically do not have the resources in house to provide all of the necessary technology services required.
Businesses that operate using cloud-based services take on risk because a third party often hosts the cloud-based service and provides the cloud-based service to many clients. If a cloud-based service becomes unavailable (e.g., a cloud-based email service experiences an outage, data stored in the cloud becomes unavailable, etc.) this may negatively impact the operation of the business.
A conventional approach to dealing with an outage is to retain redundant services, whether through the same cloud service provider, a different cloud service provider, or via an in-house or alternate mechanism that provides an equivalent or alternate service. This provides some assurance that in the event of an outage the business will not be left without any options in terms of replacing the temporarily unavailable cloud-based service.